Was Metro right to reveal the ending of the Red Wedding episode of Game of Thrones?

Game of Thrones, pictured, in happier times before getting ruined for everybody by Metro (Picture: HBO)

Sometimes picking up a newspaper and then opening it can be a dangerous Game of Thrones. Particularly if you are a pleasure-delaying fan of the HBO TV show.

The penultimate episode of Game of Thrones’ third series, The Rains of Castamere, was aired on British television on Monday night and to say that some stuff happened to some characters in it is something of an understatement. But we’re not going to go into that. We don’t want to spoil the ending for anyone reading this article who hasn’t seen it yet.

And if you picked up a copy of Metro today, you won’t need to know the details, because we splattered them all over our Page 3 this morning.

Although the event at the heart of the Game of Thrones episode in question is called the Red Wedding, many fans who hadn’t watched didn’t know which character or characters got red on them. Until they opened their copy of Metro, of course.

But were we wrong to discuss the ending of something that had been on television two days previously? The episode’s denouement hadn’t exactly been kept under wraps, given that it featured in A Storm of Swords, one of the books in the A Song of Ice and Fire series upon which Game of Thrones is based. A Storm of Swords, written by George RR Martin, was published 13 years ago.

And how can it be possible to spoil something that has already aired on television? Is a genuine spoiler the leaking of a plot detail before a show or movie has been screened, or is it when your mate down the pub – or a national free newspaper – tells you about it?

‘This week’s episode of Game of Thrones is proving to be a major entertainment news story and the show had aired on national television,’ he said.

‘Had the plot points been revealed in a newspaper prior to the show airing then I would feel very differently.

‘The show aired two days ago and has proven to be a major event in the cultural zeitgeist. I compare it to a newspaper not running photographs of a goal being scored in last night’s football match to protect the feelings of those who haven’t seen the game yet.

‘Had the paper published plot details before the show aired then it’d be a different matter, but two days on it’s fair game. TV is watercooler media, discussion is to be expected.’

But Lawrence D, editor of movie website FilmLand Empire, who didn’t know the ending until he opened his Metro this morning, disagrees.

‘There was no way of avoiding it, with a spoilerific picture jumping at your face from a page when you did not expect it,’ he said.

‘It should be at liberty to discuss the plot of a popular series and the impact it had after it had aired, but common courtesy would have required a spoiler warning.’

Lawrence admitted there is a ‘certain hysteria’ about spoilers these days. It has almost got to the stage where seeing the phrase ‘SPOILER ALERT’ is more annoying than the actual plot reveal which follows it.

‘This is not an exact science and everybody has different views about what constitutes one, which makes it difficult to have a sort of agreed etiquette on the matter,’ he said.

When it comes to movies, you’re probably more likely to come across a spoiler while watching the trailer, anyway.

‘Studios are finding it difficult to entice audiences to see their films without revealing too much, which too often leads to the comment “the best bits were in the trailer!”,’ said Lawrence.

He said films with twist endings such as The Sixth Sense or The Usual Suspects would have been ruined for him had he known their outcomes in advance.

But Batty takes a different view.

‘Is Citizen Kane a lesser film because we know what Rosebud is?’ he asked. ‘Or should I write off Planet of the Apes because The Simpsons revealed that “it was Earth all along” in their legendary Planet of the Apes: The Musical skit?’

He said there is a ‘culture of spoilerphobia’ but that reveals are easy to avoid.

‘I’ve mastered the art of the shuffled gaze, which kicks in automatically when I see a film or show mentioned on Twitter or social media, forcing me to turn away from the offending text.

‘If I accidentally stumble across one I’m not going to lose any sleep over it. I primarily consider film to be an aesthetic medium and my priorities sit with how a tale is told and not just the tale itself.’

Our viewing habits have changed dramatically in recent years, particularly when it comes to box sets and catch-up television.

‘There’s no excuse for spoiling something episodic like Game of Thrones,’ chided Ali Gray, editor of film website The Shiznit.

‘With all the various modes of TV catch-up available, people often don’t need to watch a show when it airs.

‘To print a spoiler the morning after it airs isn’t particularly clever. You need to at least wait until the complete series has hit DVD – that gives most people who are going to watch it the chance to watch it.’

But if you’re going to wait and watch a show after its original broadcast, you have to take some responsibility, according to Batty.

‘The onus and responsibility falls on the viewer to protect themselves from spoilers if they watch a show on some kind of delay,’ he said.

That could mean steering clear of Twitter, movie websites and turning the pages of any newspaper.

‘There’s no more deflating feeling than having something spoilt,’ said Gray. ‘And when it’s something like a newspaper that’s leaked the spoiler, it leads to an impotent rage as there’s very little you can do to get back on an even keel.

‘I had the same thing with Broadchurch. I had planned to watch the whole thing but never got round to it, read who the killer was by accident in a newspaper caption and thought, “Well, there’s no point now”.

‘I think spoiler etiquette should be taught in schools. I’ve lost count of the amount of times people have ruined stuff for me by posting Facebook status updates without thinking. All it takes is a little self-awareness.’